Post by dscarter1975 on Oct 23, 2015 19:38:54 GMT

I hereby confess, you may or may not have heard of this cult gem. This starred David McCallum as Dr. Daniel Westin who had come up with a formula for invisibility. However, the company he worked for wanted to use it for military purposes and he was against it so he used it on himself so that no one else could get their hands on it. As a result, in order to carry on living a normal life, he had someone make plastic skin for him so that he could still have a face and hands that you could see. From then on, he and his wife began working as secret agents. I remember ITV showing the pilot episode in either the '90s or the early '00s but I do remember BBC2 repeating the series on Wednesdays as part of their DEF II schedule. I thought it was a cool show and it was good to see McCallum play a hero other than Illya Kuryakin.

"What was I thinking of, hitting him? Nothing. No, I know. I hate him! I hate his guts, I hate everything he stands for with his PACE and his plus and his statements of purpose and his smiling at the punters and his have a nice day! I mean when was the last time he ever nicked anybody, eh? A real villain! When was the last time he ever put himself on the line?"

Post by jno on Oct 24, 2015 3:35:55 GMT

I know this series and have seen one or two. No idea how, but this must have been repeated in the 80s.

Well done dsc for bringing it up again here as this is a must see soon series. Sadly I don't have it. A quick check reveals several DVD releases (and a BR release which has been slated at Amazon) but I would need a bit more reading to work out which is the best release. Extras look particularly thin on the ground:

Post by dscarter1975 on Oct 24, 2015 18:53:49 GMT

I remember seeing this in 1990, that's it and just a snippet of the pilot a few years later. You're welcome, jno. It was around about this time (mid '70s) that they were planning an UNCLE reunion.

"What was I thinking of, hitting him? Nothing. No, I know. I hate him! I hate his guts, I hate everything he stands for with his PACE and his plus and his statements of purpose and his smiling at the punters and his have a nice day! I mean when was the last time he ever nicked anybody, eh? A real villain! When was the last time he ever put himself on the line?"

Post by pr1 on Sept 15, 2016 21:45:02 GMT

I remember this when it was first shown in here in America. I liked it but it ended up being yet another short lived science fiction tv show from the '70s. The complete series has been released on DVD. It's an entertaining show. I enjoyed it much more the second time because I was familiar with David McCallum from UNCLE. He's very good in the role and at times the stories have just the right light touch and humor I admire so much in British shows but us Yanks usually fail miserably at pulling off. If you're a fan of David McCallum it's definetly worth a look.

Post by pr1 on Sept 16, 2016 20:04:03 GMT

I like a lot of old shows. It's that in the case of this show I was 11 when it originally aired and it came and went fast so I didn't remember it that well. Thanks to the DVD I was able to rediscover it.

Post by dscarter1975 on Aug 16, 2017 12:16:39 GMT

Watched the pilot episode last night. Written by Steven Bochco (Hill Street Blues) and produced by Harve Bennett (The Six Million Dollar Man), it was a character-driven thriller which held thinly veiled digs towards the US government and military as a whole. When Dr. Westin's boss Walter Karlson at the Klae Corporation discovers his invisibility technique, he wants to create a new army of stealth soldiers much to Daniel's chagrin so our hero takes a drastic form of action that will have long-term consequences for himself and his devoted wife Kate.

Quite a few tense, barely lit scenes in this to add to the suspense such as when after becoming out of sight, Daniel takes shelter in a blind man's house and when he breaks into his own lab while being hunted by Karlson and his security team. Towards the end, there's a sudden twist as up to that point, Karlson was the big bad but a previously likeable character turns out to be the villain of the piece leading to the final action scenes. Must say that the special effects were impressive for a '70s TV show. They pulled off the invisible moments brilliantly with some camera/screen trickery thrown here and there and David McCallum has great chemistry with Melinda O. Fee who plays Kate, someone who cares for him but is also somewhat dumbfounded by his total dedication to his work.

Tonight, it's the first regular episode.

"What was I thinking of, hitting him? Nothing. No, I know. I hate him! I hate his guts, I hate everything he stands for with his PACE and his plus and his statements of purpose and his smiling at the punters and his have a nice day! I mean when was the last time he ever nicked anybody, eh? A real villain! When was the last time he ever put himself on the line?"

Post by dscarter1975 on Aug 16, 2017 12:58:40 GMT

I reckon you'll like it.

"What was I thinking of, hitting him? Nothing. No, I know. I hate him! I hate his guts, I hate everything he stands for with his PACE and his plus and his statements of purpose and his smiling at the punters and his have a nice day! I mean when was the last time he ever nicked anybody, eh? A real villain! When was the last time he ever put himself on the line?"

Post by pr1 on Aug 17, 2017 12:45:29 GMT

I was curious about when I would have watched this when it originally aired in America. NBC ran the show Monday's at 8pm starting in September 1975. Unfortunetly during that same hour CBS ran two highly popular sitcoms, Rhoda and Phylis, which dominated the ratings and The Invisible Man couldn't compete. William Shatner's series, The Barbary Coast on the ABC network also failed in that same time slot.

Post by pr1 on Aug 29, 2017 1:14:10 GMT

I watched the Pilot/TV Movie again tonight and found it well done and entertaining. The cast is good and the plot has some surprises.The special effects were well done and hold up forty odd years later. I will start watching the regular episodes soon.

Post by dscarter1975 on Aug 30, 2017 11:39:25 GMT

I came across a comment from David McCallum about the show the other day online. He said that he had "signed up to do The Fugitive and ended up doing Topper". He was clearly unimpressed about the series changing its tone from the pilot episode and becoming more light hearted. I watched an episode last night where Drs. Westin helped out Karlson's aunt and it was so corny that it belonged to another series.

"What was I thinking of, hitting him? Nothing. No, I know. I hate him! I hate his guts, I hate everything he stands for with his PACE and his plus and his statements of purpose and his smiling at the punters and his have a nice day! I mean when was the last time he ever nicked anybody, eh? A real villain! When was the last time he ever put himself on the line?"

Post by dscarter1975 on Aug 30, 2017 20:59:25 GMT

I think at the time, people watched it because of its special visual effects where you could only see McCallum's mop topped head and nothing else.

Watched an episode today called The Klae Dynasty which had a decent storyline, good action and a neat ending.

"What was I thinking of, hitting him? Nothing. No, I know. I hate him! I hate his guts, I hate everything he stands for with his PACE and his plus and his statements of purpose and his smiling at the punters and his have a nice day! I mean when was the last time he ever nicked anybody, eh? A real villain! When was the last time he ever put himself on the line?"

Post by pr1 on Sept 9, 2017 11:57:18 GMT

I watched the first regular episode, The Klae Resource, last night and found it enjoyable enough. It is certainly a product of its time with the story involving a Howard Hughes like businessman secluded in a Las Vegas penthouse. It also establishes that Westin has undertaken a few secret missions previously.

Post by dscarter1975 on Sept 9, 2017 17:05:52 GMT

It does and also, Walter Karlson seems like a much nicer man than he was in the pilot where he was a lot more ruthless and devious.

"What was I thinking of, hitting him? Nothing. No, I know. I hate him! I hate his guts, I hate everything he stands for with his PACE and his plus and his statements of purpose and his smiling at the punters and his have a nice day! I mean when was the last time he ever nicked anybody, eh? A real villain! When was the last time he ever put himself on the line?"

Post by dscarter1975 on Sept 9, 2017 19:21:22 GMT

I know, but I reckon they could have given him a different name other than Walter Karlson. Perhaps they could have explained that Karlson was fired from Klae Corporation because of his underhand methods.

"What was I thinking of, hitting him? Nothing. No, I know. I hate him! I hate his guts, I hate everything he stands for with his PACE and his plus and his statements of purpose and his smiling at the punters and his have a nice day! I mean when was the last time he ever nicked anybody, eh? A real villain! When was the last time he ever put himself on the line?"